A Year in Photographs 2023 — A Journey's End

A Year in Photographs

365 Days, 12 Themes, 1 Creative Journey

Museo Soumaya — Day 98

I started writing this entry with some grand idea that there was a lot to say, stories to tell, and great insight I learned. While I do have many stories, evolved creatively, pushed myself hard to achieve this tremendous goal, and want to share so much of my journey, I didn’t find that I could completely convey what #AYearinPhotographs has meant to me nor engage it all in just a few paragraphs.

Instead, I intend to keep this short because, perhaps, minimalism is a certain type of valor. A photograph every day for a year is an undertaking. One sets out, like every journey, with the first footstep and from there, the Universe leads one on. Simply put, it is a lot of work. Sometimes hours spent crafting one photo—it is easy, and it is hard. One is excited to do it and one will be tired.

Then it is all over and there is pride, sadness, love, and even bewilderment. And it is absolutely something that I recommend everyone should do—whether it be photography, writing, music, art, cooking, fitness, or whatever your passion may be. Do it. Journal it. Blog it. Share it.

It is a wave that washes over you and you’ll either ride it great distances or it will stay your feet, and you will be left behind. It is a commitment that if you hesitate for merely a day, you can never draw level. But when you reach the end of every day, every week, month, and the year, you have an accomplishment that only those who have traveled this path can truly appreciate.

Over 11,000 photos, 365 days, 12 themes, thousands of kilometers, two continents, four countries, and one singularly fantastic camera later, #AYearinPhotographs comes to close.

Here’s to the journey’s beginning, the path, the light, the shadow, and to the journey’s end.

Until next time.

A Year in Photographs 2023

“Go out and shoot!”

— Adrian’s Life Rule #56

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Shot on FujiFilm X-T5

December — A Year in Photographs — Details

Boots — Day 337

I love details. Details are what makes things great—a heaping a small things come together to make the big things. So often there are small details around us that we dismiss or overlook—the mundane around us that makes the world but are still beautiful in their own right.

I’d argue that a photographer, or cinematographer, makes it their job, or even their duty, to see the world differently. My grandfather once said to me while looking as a photo of mine, “I don’t know how you see it. I see nothing, you see a photography.”

Letting my eyes wander is part of how I made it through #AYearinPhotographs. Seeing things that otherwise I would have overlooked and saying “that’s my photograph for today.” Creativity is intuitive, instinctual, visceral, but also architectural, madness, and cognitive.

“Creativity: Madman, Architect, Carpenter, Judge. In that order.”

— Adrian’s Life Rule #40

Many of these photos “took themselves” as I saw it and said in my mind, “take the photo.” And that’s perhaps the one thing that stands out to me. If you’re instincts tell you to photography something do it. It is the small voice that booms inside that if ignored, one will regret it.

September — A Year in Photographs — Light and Shadow

Photography means ‘photo,’ light, and ‘graphy,’ writing—writing with light. Black and white is also my favorite form reducing imagery down to shapes and patters. And there are fewer better times of year than September in Chicago for amazing light and shadows.

Striking blackness and sharp whiteness of sunlight or a flash splashing across cement or brick, making for dramatic contrast catches the attention of anyone who can see.

September is a tribute to the most basic of concept of photography—photographing simply how light plays against its opposite of shadow.